JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on or have recently completed. Why exactly do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?
GINA MONACO: I’d like to talk about three projects. The first one is an ongoing project, which is becoming a musician. I’ve always been attracted to music, not just as a music fan, which I am, but at a much deeper level. I read books about music, I listen to all music genres, I’m curious about sound. I think a lot about the effect that music has on me and on all listeners. I never considered becoming a singer or a performer – I was comfortable behind the scenes, writing about music and musicians, working on music festivals, discussing music — exploring all of it. Writing about music was part of my job when I worked at Creative Arts and The Hamilton Arts Council. The idea to perform only came to me after I started taking vocal lessons in 2011 – I was 57 years old. Studying music seemed a natural progression. I started to sing Karaoke to practice and to get comfortable singing in front of people. When that was not enough, I learned to play guitar and perform, which I did, which led me to study with a new vocal coach, which then led me to study music at Mohawk College. I turned 60 in my first year there, in a class of kids – average-age 20.
My second project is one I started working on last December – a musical history of Canadian Rock n’ Roll. It takes the audience on a 15-year journey through the various stages of rock ‘n roll, starting in the 5os through to 1970. I picked that time period because it was an explosive time in the growth of rock. I’m sure when that part of the project gets completed, I’ll move further up the timeline. The idea came out of a conversation I had with a young guitarist in my class as well as a grant writing assignment. The guitarist, James, and I were talking about dynamics and I mentioned Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. He said something that really stunned me. He said, “I don’t think they were particularly innovative.” I was kind of speechless and thought about that a lot. Here was a kid who had no idea that the stuff he was playing today, the riffs, the progressions that were “normal” for him, were created by some pretty innovative musicians. I didn’t know how he could ever hope to create something new if he didn’t have a good sense of where the music came from – it’s like visual artists who study the masters. You copy, improve, grow, and hopefully one day, you create something completely different. I offered to loan him my Robert Johnson CDs so he could deep dive, but he wasn’t interested. He eventually dropped out of school. He had been in a few bands, but ended up cutting his hair and getting a “job”. A career in music is not for everyone.
Back to my project. I’m all about the history of things. When I was studying journalism, I learned all I could about the great writers and the history of newspapers, which deepened my understanding and appreciation for what became my career. Working on this particular project is a “heart” thing – a way for me to continue to learn, and to use my storytelling skills, to share my love of music, and its history, with others.
Why does it matter to me? I don’t really know – it just feels like the right thing for me to do at this time.
Why should it matter to others? I’m not sure that it should – whether it matters to others or not is none of my business. I can only hope there is an audience for it.
The third project is performance. Because I don’t perform a lot, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to work with other musicians, which I’ve been really enjoying. I feel like it’s the next step, which is funny because I just turned 64, which is kind of late coming to this game. It’s a lot different doing this in my 60s than if I were starting out in my 20s. For example, I love rock music – Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, all of it, but I’m not really a “rock” singer. I prefer a softer style in a more intimate setting than over a dive-y rock and roll venue.
So, when I get the opportunity to sing with a rock band, I take it and have a blast. Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a rock band for a limited run and I have learned so much about myself. I had a vocal coach who once told me that I had to have the courage to be vulnerable – that has stayed with me. As a singer, it’s easy to just get up and sing the words, rather than tell the story. This is the difference between a singer and an artist – being an artist is far more satisfying. So, now when I approach a song, I explore it and try to find that part of me that relates to the story – that place of vulnerability so when I eventually sing it, there is truth to it. I am an entertainer, not just a singer, and I want to bring an audience into my world for a short period of time so that they might also feel what I am feeling. There are a few artists who are so good at it – Freddie Mercury, Shelby Lynne, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, Simon and Garfunkel and Bruce Springsteen.
I am planning to perform more in 2019 but it’s a lot of work and finding the time is challenging since I still have a full-time job. I don’t want to perform a lot – I do get tired – that age thing again. 😊 I have a few good years left in me and there is nothing I would rather be doing than pursuing music projects – I will continue as long as long as I can.
I also started playing piano while in music school, which I continue with the same teacher. I find that I have this obsession with needing to understand an instrument. I’m getting there with the piano – been playing it for 5 years and working through the Conservatory program.
I picked up the guitar again – I didn’t play it when I was in school – -and now I have mixed feelings about it because I don’t really understand it. I can play chords because I have learned shapes but I don’t know scales or barre chords, so I’m looking forward to diving into this a bit more.
My voice is the other instrument I plan to work on more. One of my voice teachers at school was a classical singer – best training I got – but I still have much to do to really understand my instrument. I may be an “older” person but I’m really just getting started.
JS: How did doing these projects change you as a person and as a creator?
GM: I’m not sure these projects changed me other than the natural personal growth that comes out of learning new skills. Seeing the world of music through a different lens has certainly deepened my passion for it. I find myself thinking more about music as an art form, about audience reactions, and about the concept of “good.” What’s good? What’s great? How does an audience measure that? I consider myself an okay vocalist and sometimes I can sing “good” but I’m not great and may never be great – it takes a lot of work to be great, and even then, you may not get there.
I find it interesting when I go hear live music at my local pub and everyone says how good or great the band is, and to me they’re just okay. So, it comes down to entertainment value. If a pub or bar audience can sing along, or get up and dance, then all is good. But put that band in an arena or a concert hall and they may not measure up.
There were a few bands come together when I was in school and one band in particular really had a good sound but they couldn’t sing – a lot of notes off pitch and sometimes they’re not even singing notes in the scale they’re playing. Yet, an audience goes crazy and tells them how great they are, because the audience enjoyed themselves. I think that’s a slippery slope. How do you improve if you already think you’re good?
When I was studying journalism, we had a class in photojournalism. I remember one photo I took that I thought was just great. When I showed my teacher, he basically panned it. I was deflated – that happened a lot in journalism school, lol. I asked him why and he said that I have to judge my work against the top photographers, meaning keep striving. That’s a double-edged sword too. When I judge my singing with those I admire it’s very humbling. Judging may not be the right word, nor is compare – it’s more an ideal to strive towards. I’ve been told that I’m a perfectionist but I don’t think I am, but I have had to let go of the idea that my musicianship has to be at certain level before I can perform. That’s been big lesson. And, I am older, so there is the time factor to consider too. 😊
As for creativity, I find that these music projects are another outlet for self-expression – one that gets immediate feedback. When you’re writing, you don’t always get that quick feedback unless you write something that people disagree with. I also think a lot about stagecraft because you always want to be giving to the audience. I learned very early that performing was not about me singing out to an audience but rather moving an audience closer to me. Less hubris, more humility –It becomes an intimate experience.
JS: What might others not understand or appreciate about the work you produce or do?
GM: I think the biggest misconception is that it’s all fun when in reality it’s a lot of work. However, I have learned to really enjoy the “work” part, to get into the weeds of it. The end result is fleeting – over in a few hours – it’s the in-between where everything happens. I’m a real stickler for rehearsals and I practice a lot. And I love putting the pieces together for a show.
There’s a great Sondheim song that Streisand sang called “Putting It Together”. The lyrics state that “art isn’t easy”, and “the art of making art/Is putting it together/ bit by bit/Beat by beat/part by part/sheet by sheet/ chart by chart/ track by track/reel by reel” etc. That’s how I feel about it.
For example, I recently did a gig for the Dundas Rotary Club’s Christmas Party. I brought in a pianist (my piano teacher) and a bass. We also had to lead the group as they sang Christmas carols and I wanted to do something differently than what they had done with previously. And I got a lot of, “well we do it this way, and we usually do this and so on.” Older don’t people resist change, lol, but I was determined. I came up with 14 songs that were a combo of traditional and contemporary, and I decided to assign the verses – males, females, all. I found a few members who liked to sign so I got them to do solo lines and I sang a few duets. We did one as a round. It was a good evening– everyone went home feeling really upbeat. It was very different than what they usually did. That made all the time I put into it worth it.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
GM: My life experience. My realness. My passion for music. My challenges. My overcoming these challenges. My positive approach to my life. Being a Mother. The work really challenges me to know myself more –to be more real. Just when I think I know myself, something pops up in the work that takes me in a new personal direction. It’s quite astonishing, really. It’s that proverbial lightbulb turning on. Every time I work on something, I learn something new, and then want to explore it more, whether it’s deciding to learn more guitar or even learning a new instrument, or learning a new vocal technique. What a great way to send the rest of my life.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
GM: I don’t think I have any except with the idea that I AM a creative person. It’s easy to forget that because I write very dry stuff in my job – finance, economy, real estate, mortgages, money – which I sometimes consider as not being creative, but it really is. It’s taking complicated data, rearranging it, and presenting it in a coherent way that people can understand and relate to – creating order out of chaos as they say in journalism school.
I also find there is a limit to creativity, meaning that my level of creativity is used up in my day-to-day work life that when I want to sit down and work on music, I find that I’m a bit empty. So, I have to replenish. That frustrates me at times. The music history project for example is taking me a lot of time. I’ve done the initial research but finding the time to sit down and write it is challenging. In know, I know, Agatha Christie wrote at the kitchen table in-between making dinner for her brood of children – I did too when I was younger. So, I plan to take 10 days in the Spring, go up north and just write it.
JS: Imagine that you are meeting two or three people, living or dead, whom you admire because of their work in your form of artistic expression. What would you say to them and what would they say to you?
GM: George Harrison and Barbra Streisand
To George I would say, “I didn’t really notice your work or understood your contribution to the Beatles until much later, after the Beatles split. I heard you play an acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps and I fell in love with the music. You recorded the album All Things Must Pass, which I think took a lot of courage. Thank you.”
me he would say: “Stay true to you, follow your heart, always. Fortune favours the bold.”
To Barbra, I would simply say, “Thank You”.
To me, she would say, “Thank YOU!”
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that helped to make you who you are as a creative artist.
GM: There isn’t one in particular, but a series of events. About a year into my vocal and guitar lessons with Ray Lyell, he wanted to sing a duet. He had a performance space, a beautiful space, and had monthly open mic nights for the school’s students. He had quite a large school so the place was always full.
I remember that I wanted our performance staged a certain way. He just kind of looked at me and dismissed me, lol. Our performance went over really well, but I couldn’t help but think that if he had done just one or two of the things I suggested it would have been better. HAHA. The other event was six months later. This time it was the year-end concert and I had worked on an Adele cover of Lovesong with my two brothers who are both musicians. I arranged it a bit differently and it was well-received.
The next week at my lesson, Ray said that he had never had this happen before, that almost everyone came up to him after and asked about me – who I was, “that voice”, stuff like that. He said, “Gina, you are becoming an artist, and I don’t know where to take you now. You’ve gone beyond where I can take you.”
That led me to another vocal teacher and then to Mohawk College.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about your life as a person in the arts?
GM: I spent much of my work life as a freelance writer and editor. The hardest thing for others to understand, and by others, I include some members of my family and even my oldest son, is that I don’t have the same amount of money coming in each week. It’s the ups and downs of not knowing how much is coming in they can’t understand, but I adapted. My one brother understood because he is a full-time musician. My other brother was a full-time musician for many years but he could not handle the uncertainty of the music business and ended up leaving for a steady pay cheque.
Freelance writing was very good to me and I was fortunate to land a contract with the Hamilton Spectator that actually did give me a steady pay cheque.
The other thing people didn’t understand was that it was a “real” job. They seemed to feel better when I got an editing job where I went into an office every day, which I did from time to time because I would feel very isolated working from home. Then, after being out in the workplace for a while, I would wonder why I left home for this, lol.
As for music, people didn’t understand why I would go back to school at 59 years old. They thought I was nuts, but as George Harrison might say, “Fortune favours the bold.” At times I questioned it too, but I’m not someone who’s going to end up sitting in front of the TV every night, unless of course, Outlander or Game of Thrones is on. 😊
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted as yet that you would like to do in the arts? Why the delay so far?
GM: Well, I’m still fairly new to music and I don’t think about it in terms of what I have yet to do – I have it all to do, but some things I don’t want to do. I don’t want to perform a lot. I do want to get better at guitar and piano. I will continue to sing as long as my voice stays strong. I do want to continue to write about music and develop performance projects. I think I’ve come a long way since 2011 and I look forward to whatever is still waiting for me to do.
JS: If you could re-live your life in the arts, how would you change it and why?
GM: I’ve been thinking about this exact question lately. If I could do it all over again, would I have changed anything, perhaps started studying music in my youth, and where would I be now. It could be that I might be in the exact same place. I find that it’s kind of useless to think about “what if”, so I don’t. This is my life.
When I look back, there was no opening or support for me to study music. Usually, you can see events that sends you down a certain path. There was none of that when I look back. In fact, it was the opposite. Anytime I tried to move forward in music, I would get blocked. To re-live my life, I would have to change everything about my life, starting in my childhood.
I had the talent. I started singing when I was four years old. I picked up my grandfather’s guitar when I was eight years old and learned to play one song on my own. I noodled around on my cousin’s piano when I was 11-years-old and in two weeks learned how to play Lara’s theme, on my own. But no one sent me for lessons. My two brothers got the lessons.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
GM: Auto-tuning depresses me. 😊
If we’re talking about writing, journalism, and literature, the bar has really dropped. It’s in such a sad state. I host a book club each month – it’s part of a larger book club – and the books they pick are just fluff, yet my group loves them. There are a few of us who are older who don’t love them so much, so we add meatier books to our reading list.
As for music, I’m actually hopeful. I see a kind of renaissance happening. I see more interest in jazz among young people. I see a return to roots-y music and I hear a lot of music that sounds like music from the 70s. If you study the history of music you see a pattern. At the beginning of a new musical period, which usually coincides close to a new century, the music has become very complex. Think about the end of the Classical period and the beginning of the Romantic period. Classical was at its pinnacle but slowly started to return to simpler sounds before transitioning into full Romantic period. I believe that’s what’s happening now. You hear it in the young bands playing original music.
I don’t know what we’ll end up with but I’m excited about it – hope I live long enough to hear it.
JS: What exactly do you like about the work you create and/or do?
GM: I like the way music makes me feel – about me, about others, about love, death, pain, happiness, and about the world. Music is the soundtrack to life.
Studies of music’s effect on the brain seem to indicate that we’re hardwired to interpret and react emotionally to a piece of music. I think that is just so cool. To be able to affect emotion in a positive way with music is just plain awesome. Who would NOT want to do that.
JS: In your creative life thus far, what have been the most helpful comments you have heard about your work?
GM: Listen closely to the pitches, you sound great, that was boring, have the courage to show your vulnerability, breathe, you can do it, make sure you’re singing in the right key, breathe, you’re becoming an artist, accentuate the consonants, awesome job, practice slowly at first, one bar at a time, tell the story, breathe, some songs you shouldn’t sing, you have great tone, don’t get frustrated, learn your instrument, you’re getting better at this, and..breathe.
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising things about you?
GM: I’m surprised that music still surprises me. There are so many layers to it that you can spend a few lifetimes exploring just one aspect.
I have this wonder and awe about music and I get very excited and want to learn more. I sometimes get too enthusiastic and it can come off as pushy but I just want to improve. I want to learn from the best people, which is not always possible.
I’m surprised that my voice is still going strong at my age.
What I find intriguing is the passion I feel for it. I fall in love with music and musicians every day. It’s a pleasant place to be.